Because I am that idiot.....
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THANK YOU. Ha, I was wondering why people kept saying how easy it is to weigh your food.
<--- Also feeling like an idiot.0 -
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So, for your Cuban Picadillo, manually enter the recipe into the MFP recipe builder thing. Use weight measurements wherever possible in the recipe. Then, make the recipe. When you are all done cooking, weigh the entire amount of food that you just prepared. Now, back in the recipe builder for the recipe that you previously entered, set the number of servings to the total grams of food you just made. (It could be several thousand grams.)
Then when you eat, just weigh the portion that you want. When you track the portion you eat in your diary, 1 gram = 1 serving. So if you serve yourself 200 grams of the recipe, enter in 200 servings. MFP will calculate the calories for you
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Holy Hannah!!! We're all learning today! This is absolute genius. How on earth didn't I think of this before? DUH!!!0 -
Never be ashamed OP...we all have to learn.
And as long as you are willing to learn you are able to change things in life into positive.
I did this too, when i started. Just getting used to it you find your way to do these kinda things.
You get faster at it and faster. And in short time you are so used to your "new" habit that it only takes seconds to do it.0 -
So, for your Cuban Picadillo, manually enter the recipe into the MFP recipe builder thing. Use weight measurements wherever possible in the recipe. Then, make the recipe. When you are all done cooking, weigh the entire amount of food that you just prepared. Now, back in the recipe builder for the recipe that you previously entered, set the number of servings to the total grams of food you just made. (It could be several thousand grams.)
Then when you eat, just weigh the portion that you want. When you track the portion you eat in your diary, 1 gram = 1 serving. So if you serve yourself 200 grams of the recipe, enter in 200 servings. MFP will calculate the calories for you
Holy Hannah!!! We're all learning today! This is absolute genius. How on earth didn't I think of this before? DUH!!![/quote]
Someone posted this on here once before and it was like the heavens opened up. This is how I do it every time now, and it makes everything so much easier! It may look funny in my diary (115 servings of scrambled eggs, for example) but it sure does work for me.0 -
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Thanks so much for posting this and all the useful hints in the replies. Especially the hint about adding something under the plate/pan so you can see the reading.
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I probably would have done the same thing if I hadn't been a chemistry major.0
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No shame in learning.0
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Another idiot checking in. I heard angels sing when I figured this out. Duh0
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Narcissora wrote: »Monklady123 wrote: »greaseswabber wrote: »I even weigh pans and serving dishes, so I can net the calories for a recipe without transferring to a new container. Big batch of taco meat, for instance. Pan weighs 1450 grams. Entire batch of meat + pan = 3000 grams. Because it has 8 servings, 3000-1450=1550/8 = 194g/serving
I do this but take it a step further. Set the number of servings for the recipe to 1550. Then when you serve out a portion, weigh out the number of grams and enter that as the number of servings. Perfect portion, every time.
But how do you know exactly how many calories are in each of those 1,550 servings? Or in any recipe for that matter? Let's say I make one of my family's favorite recipes, Cuban picadillo.... ground beef, stewed tomatoes, olives, raisins, spices, served on rice. Do I have to weight every single ingredient before I put it in the pan? Then add all that up to get the calories for the entire recipe? I hate to cook so much that this would be a deal breaker for me. ugh... It's bad enough that I have to do the cooking anyway.
Last time I made this recipe I just took the calories listed in MFP for a cup of cooked ground beef and added 100 or so more for the calories in the olives and raisins. Yeah, not accurate. But since I'm still on the beginning of losing weight -- meaning I have quite a bit to lose -- I'm just going with it as it is. If [when?] I reach a plateau I might rethink the recipe counting. Or, I might stop cooking "mixed up" recipes and stick with mean/veggie/starch. lol
So, for your Cuban Picadillo, manually enter the recipe into the MFP recipe builder thing. Use weight measurements wherever possible in the recipe. Then, make the recipe. When you are all done cooking, weigh the entire amount of food that you just prepared. Now, back in the recipe builder for the recipe that you previously entered, set the number of servings to the total grams of food you just made. (It could be several thousand grams.)
Then when you eat, just weigh the portion that you want. When you track the portion you eat in your diary, 1 gram = 1 serving. So if you serve yourself 200 grams of the recipe, enter in 200 servings. MFP will calculate the calories for you
Genius! omg, I can't wait to get started tracking more accurately!
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Setting up complex recipes can be a pain, but it's easy once you get the hang of it and allows you to be extremely accurate with homemade foods.0
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I even weigh pans and serving dishes, so I can net the calories for a recipe without transferring to a new container. Big batch of taco meat, for instance. Pan weighs 1450 grams. Entire batch of meat + pan = 3000 grams. Because it has 8 servings, 3000-1450=1550/8 = 194g/serving
Omfg you're a legend!!!!! What a fantastically awesome idea!!!!0 -
Thank you op!! Thanks everyone for your replies. This thread has just made my day so much easier0
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mrsfitzyv8 wrote: »I even weigh pans and serving dishes, so I can net the calories for a recipe without transferring to a new container. Big batch of taco meat, for instance. Pan weighs 1450 grams. Entire batch of meat + pan = 3000 grams. Because it has 8 servings, 3000-1450=1550/8 = 194g/serving
Omfg you're a legend!!!!! What a fantastically awesome idea!!!!
What's also cool about knowing the weight of an entire recipe is that you can set the entire batch as 1 serving of say 4000 calories. If you want 400 calorie servings, divide total weight by 10 and portion to the calculated weight. If you want less calories, reduce serving size accordingly.
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Oh good Lord! I've been adding things to a container and doing math to get the individual amounts of each ingredient. Hit the zero button. Genius! Oh and love that peanut butter serving amount thing too.0
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For peanut butter on bread, I weigh the bread, then zero out the scale with the bread still on it, then put peanut butter on the bread, weigh it, and you now have the weight of just the peanut butter that you added. 0
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Narcissora wrote: »For peanut butter on bread, I weigh the bread, then zero out the scale with the bread still on it, then put peanut butter on the bread, weigh it, and you now have the weight of just the peanut butter that you added.
This works great for adding butter to a dinner roll as well! Cheese to a salad. Croutons to a salad. Everything! :-)0 -
Narcissora wrote: »For peanut butter on bread, I weigh the bread, then zero out the scale with the bread still on it, then put peanut butter on the bread, weigh it, and you now have the weight of just the peanut butter that you added.
But you are left with a knife or spoon covered in PB and it's a shame to throw it away. Better to put the PB jar on the scales, zero it and take what you need. Now you have the weight of the PB on the bread and on the knife.
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Maybe this is common knowledge, but I wanted to spare anyone who has been reluctant to use a food scale...
At first, I assumed I had to tediously weigh every food item separately, directly on the scale (weigh food, remove and wipe it clean, weigh 2nd ingredient, wipe it clean, etc). It took me a while to realize that I am an idiot....
Turn the scale on. Set it to grams. Put your bowl or plate directly on the scale. Zero it out. THEN put the first ingredient. Zero it out and add the next ingredient, repeat. I can't believe I didn't understand this immediately--so literally all you have to do is hit the zero/tare button before adding each ingredient. Nothing to clean. No extra steps since you're already adding in ingredients to your plate/bowl anyway. It's THAT easy.
I hope I have spared someone from this shame.
Never even thought of this! i have been weighing out my food for like 5 weeks and have done all my salad ingredients separate.. fml0 -
Maybe this is common knowledge, but I wanted to spare anyone who has been reluctant to use a food scale...
At first, I assumed I had to tediously weigh every food item separately, directly on the scale (weigh food, remove and wipe it clean, weigh 2nd ingredient, wipe it clean, etc). It took me a while to realize that I am an idiot....
Turn the scale on. Set it to grams. Put your bowl or plate directly on the scale. Zero it out. THEN put the first ingredient. Zero it out and add the next ingredient, repeat. I can't believe I didn't understand this immediately--so literally all you have to do is hit the zero/tare button before adding each ingredient. Nothing to clean. No extra steps since you're already adding in ingredients to your plate/bowl anyway. It's THAT easy.
I hope I have spared someone from this shame.
Needs a "Like" button, and possibly a sticky. Thank you, brave idiot.0 -
thanks, I haven't moved over to scaling yet but thank you for when I do need to0
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I did the same thing when I originally began weighing my food a couple years ago. Then I realized there had to be a better way to measure condiments.0
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Maybe this is common knowledge, but I wanted to spare anyone who has been reluctant to use a food scale...
At first, I assumed I had to tediously weigh every food item separately, directly on the scale (weigh food, remove and wipe it clean, weigh 2nd ingredient, wipe it clean, etc). It took me a while to realize that I am an idiot....
Turn the scale on. Set it to grams. Put your bowl or plate directly on the scale. Zero it out. THEN put the first ingredient. Zero it out and add the next ingredient, repeat. I can't believe I didn't understand this immediately--so literally all you have to do is hit the zero/tare button before adding each ingredient. Nothing to clean. No extra steps since you're already adding in ingredients to your plate/bowl anyway. It's THAT easy.
I hope I have spared someone from this shame.
You're adorable!
It took me awhile to figure that one out too.0 -
greaseswabber wrote: »I even weigh pans and serving dishes, so I can net the calories for a recipe without transferring to a new container. Big batch of taco meat, for instance. Pan weighs 1450 grams. Entire batch of meat + pan = 3000 grams. Because it has 8 servings, 3000-1450=1550/8 = 194g/serving
I do this but take it a step further. Set the number of servings for the recipe to 1550. Then when you serve out a portion, weigh out the number of grams and enter that as the number of servings. Perfect portion, every time.
It took me a minute, but I get it--whatever your recipe weighs after cooking, put in the total weight so that you always get a grams serving. Another good idea!0 -
I did that too at first when I got my food scale...*Idiot raising hand*
I use the recipe builder too a lot...I love the fact that sometimes my recipes have different amounts (you know those ones where you just throw crap together) and I can change the weight/servings easily here.
I've been tempted to write the weights of my cooking pans on them in permanent marker to be honest...haven't gone that far yet but I might...just so I know when I use this pan weigh the food when it's done cooking how much to subtract for the recipe builder.0 -
I just had to instruct a PhD to do the same, so you're in good company 0
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Feel no shame. I didn't realize it until months after weighing.
And I JUST realized the whole "sit the jar on the scale and zero out and scoop" trick. Biggest "f*** me moment" ever.0 -
RllyGudTweetr wrote: »Maybe this is common knowledge, but I wanted to spare anyone who has been reluctant to use a food scale...
At first, I assumed I had to tediously weigh every food item separately, directly on the scale (weigh food, remove and wipe it clean, weigh 2nd ingredient, wipe it clean, etc). It took me a while to realize that I am an idiot....
Turn the scale on. Set it to grams. Put your bowl or plate directly on the scale. Zero it out. THEN put the first ingredient. Zero it out and add the next ingredient, repeat. I can't believe I didn't understand this immediately--so literally all you have to do is hit the zero/tare button before adding each ingredient. Nothing to clean. No extra steps since you're already adding in ingredients to your plate/bowl anyway. It's THAT easy.
I hope I have spared someone from this shame.
Needs a "Like" button, and possibly a sticky. Thank you, brave idiot.
hahaha!! You're welcome! Nice to see all the fun responses, and great ideas about the recipes and pb jars!0 -
I've been having a grand old time today weighing all sorts of things with my new-found knowledge. lol.
The first thing I discovered is that my jar of cashews says a serving is "3 T (30g)". Well first of all how do you accurately scoop a tablespoon of cashews? I usually scoop three tablespoons without trying to pile them on and still it was WAY over 30 grams when I weighed it.
My sliced cheese says each slice is 21 grams, and I weighed four or five slices (only ate two, I was just checking) and every one was exactly 21 grams. How do they do that? lol
Dried blueberries (no added sugar, just blueberries), serving size "1/3 cup (40g)". I scooped 1/3 of a cup and it weighed in at 68 grams!
omg.... Thanks VERY much for this thread.
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